Tabata or not Tabata? Take care with this intense fitness trend

DALLAS — Before we talk about what Tabata is, perhaps it's prudent to tell what the popular, four-minutes-to-fitness workout regimen is not.

It is 20 seconds - not 30 or 45 or 60 - of all-out exercise, followed by 10 seconds - not 30 or 45 - of rest. It is not strength-training based: no push-ups, squats, biceps curls. Only cardiovascular work, please.

"It got to be trendy because it got some really interesting results," says Lucy Waite, group exercise fitness coordinator at Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center. "People started putting it into classes: 'We're going to do a set of Tabata - 30 seconds on and 30 off.'

"That's not Tabata. Call it high-intensity interval training, but to use the term Tabata is not an accurate representation of what's going on."

True Tabata, named for Japanese scientist Izumi Tabata, is a specific form of workout. His research in 1996 concluded that specific increments of time - 20 seconds on, 10 off for four minutes - significantly increased aerobic and anaerobic energy systems in participants. The trick is going all-out during those 20 seconds.

"It's not for someone just starting out, but you can do these at any level," says Paul McDonough, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Arlington. "You get really good results in a very short period of time. That's the real selling point."

A lot of athletes like its time-minimizing, results-maximizing effects, says McDonough, who trains in sports jujitsu and is himself a Tabata devotee. "But it's pretty tough, and that's why people don't do it."

Tabata works by allowing you to exercise at a higher workload or intensity than you normally would, he says. "You increase aerobic capacity and the ability to withstand lactic acid, which is what builds up in the muscles. That's what makes people stop. It hurts."

Adding Tabata every day would be too much, says McDonough. But a couple of times week, as he does, helps to improve an athlete's ability to release energy. That can be the difference between winning and losing in a race, when you want to "bump up intensity as quickly as you can," McDonough says.

We get the body warm and loose, ready to perform," says Pylant, 32.

"Tabata is great for a lot of different reasons.

"You can mix and match the workout, he says, "or do the same thing for the whole time. You could do pushups for 20 seconds, rest 10 and so forth till you've done four minutes. We use it with anything."

Which is where Waite of the Landry fitness center has issues. Not because of the training itself, but because of the use of the word.

"The push-up thing will probably get you bigger and stronger," she says, "but don't call it Tabata."

Pylant doesn't use that word to the people in his class, he says. "The campers would look at me cross-eyed if I did." Instead, he tells them:

"OK, we're going to do interval training. Work for 20, take a break for 10."

Dallas personal trainer Norbert Motte agrees that a Tabata workout would be appropriate for a lot of people. But he doesn't make it part of his clients' training.

"One thing a trainer needs to do is weigh risks and benefits," says Motte, who is 52 and training for his 12th Ironman competition. "I'd suggest most people are waiting for an injury to happen if they do threshold training."

He first heard about Tabata training several years ago but was skeptical.

"I'm kind of a science nerd," Motte says. "As soon as I hear about something, I want clinical trials. I could be easily corrected, but I didn't see anything in terms of peer review. It's a number of college physiologists using college students, primarily males. So 18- to 22-year-olds can do this. That's fine and dandy, but am I throwing my 40-year-old female who sits at a desk all day under the bus?

"I do question specific things, like the four minutes," he says. "It's kind of like that six-minutes-to-great-abs thing. Good luck there!"

For the most part, Tabata should be used as part of a well-rounded regimen that includes cardiovascular, strength and flexibility workouts. "Four minutes twice a week is better than zero minutes zero times a week," Waite says.